May 26, 2016

Previously in "Greatest Phillies not in the Hall of Fame," we examined Deadball Era star and former Phillies captain Sherry Magee. Today, I'll discuss the case for his teammate Clifford "Gavvy" Cravath and assess his chances at Hall of Fame immortality. Cravath was the premier power hitter of the Deadball era but is given little in regards to Hall of Fame consideration. Today, I'll present the case against Cravath and then explain why the knocks against him shouldn't keep him out of the Hall of Fame discussion.

Gavvy Cravath warms up before a game at Baker Bowl during the 1913 pennant race

May 24, 2016

The 2008 parade down Broad Street might not feel so long ago, but if you go to Citizens Bank Park for a game right now, the only reminders of that team you may see on the field are Chooch and Ryan Howard. Around them is an assembled cast of characters that were supposed to be really terrible, but have managed to stay over .500 much further into the season than any of us expect. Even so, only Maikel Franco and Odubel Herrera are virtual locks for the future, and the Phillies line-up is carrying around several complete eye-sores. As you watch Howard, Peter Bourjos, and a few others take up plate appearances, you can't help but ask yourself how much of the current product has a future in Philadelphia.

With that in mind, I invite you to take a ride up the Northeast Extension to Allentown and take in a ball game. If you haven't seen a full line-up there, take a ride down 222 to "Baseballtown" and Reading should be able to fill in the holes. The Phillies upper-minor league affiliates are stock full of the line-up and rotations of the future, and many of them are just a few months away from arrival.

May 18, 2016

It's been some time since a Phillies player was inducted into the Hall of Fame. During the mid-1990s, four former Phillies - Steve Carlton (1994), Mike Schmidt (1995), Richie Ashburn (1995), and Jim Bunning (1996) - were enshrined into baseball's hallowed Hall of Fame over three consecutive years. None have been inducted since. That means it has been 20 long years since a Phillies player was inducted. Such a drought makes you wonder when the next former Phillies star will be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

I provide the case for a few players, examine why they are not already in the Hall of Fame, and assess their chances at making the ballot and ultimately earning induction into the Hall of Fame.

My methodology for including players in this series is simple: I will only consider retired players who played at least one full season for the Phillies during their careers. Naturally, each player's measurables must be of the caliber of players already in the Hall of Fame. Finally, I'll place the player's chances of induction on a scale of 1-10 (10 being a lock for enshrinement). This series will flow chronologically from early players to those who are more recent. Today's candidate is former Phillies captain Sherwood "Sherry" Magee.

April 04, 2016

The Phillies are a better baseball team than they were a year ago, or even when they left town last October. No one should mistake them for their 2011 version, or even their 2005 version, but this team is in a considerably better place. Gone are all of the heroes of 2008 except for Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz, both of whom will be gone a year from now. The Manager, General Manager, and Team President are different than a year ago, and seem to represent a more analytical, proactive approach to rebuilding this team. This team is younger, seems to have more depth, and is carrying less dead weight.

A year ago, the Phillies rotation had Aaron Harang, David Buchanan, Jerome Williams, and Sean O'Sullivan in it. While Jeremy Hellickson is not an upgrade on Cole Hamels, Aaron Nola, Charlie Morton, Jerad Eickhoff, and Vince Velasquez seem like four solid upgrades on last year's Opening Day rotation. Maikel Franco is likely to get almost all of the reps at third base this year, which should represent a substantial upgrade. Ryan Howard is now in a platoon with Darin Ruf, one that should substantially help both players' stats. Chase Utley got off to a really rough start last season due to health, and Cesar Hernandez should start this season in a substantially better place. Less at-bats should be wasted on aging and declining players this season. As is typically the case in rebuilds, year two will be much more efficient in getting potential pieces of the future a good look. Couple that with a start where they will see both Cincinnati and San Diego early, two NL teams they are at least on par with, and the Phillies could get out to a nice start that gives you hope.

Temper that hope now, obviously. The Phillies would have to catch a lot of breaks to even be an 81-81 team at the end of this season. The major injury to Aaron Altherr made an already thin outfield into a potentially major liability in 2016, taking a rather exciting young player away and putting a question mark into place on a team that already has a really uninspiring overall offense. The Phillies opened last season with Papelbon, Giles, and even Diekman in place in their bullpen, and the first two had dominant seasons for the Phillies for the majority of the season. This year, the Phillies open the season with no closer, and no defined set-up man really. Given the fragile and narrow pathway for success for this team, the fact that they aren't likely to be good at holding one run leads means that the Phillies will find contending to be close to impossible. While their starting pitching staff is much better than last year's, and their line-up has some potential for improvement, their overall improvement in the standings is likely to be hampered by a bullpen that has serious holes, a line-up that is not balanced end-to-end, and team defense and fundamentals that will sometimes lack. While I expect the Phillies to be better, I still see a 67 to 72 win team that finishes with a top ten pick in the 2017 draft.

None of this is to say that 2016 will be a lost season. The continued development on the Major League level of Maikel Franco, Odubel Herrera, and even Cesar Hernandez and Freddy Galvis should be fascinating to watch. The continual development of pitchers Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff, and Vince Velasquez should also be worth the watchful eye of Phillies fans everywhere. Expectations should be tempered though. If you expect Franco to be Mike Schmidt, Herrera to be Lenny Dykstra, or Hernandez to Chase Utley in 2016, you are not giving them room to grow and make mistakes. It is possible, if not probable that Nola and Eickhoff will see some regression from 2015 in 2016, as the league adapts to them after their first look. We don't know what Velasquez is yet, a top end starter, a back end starter, or even a reliever. Finally, do not sit here in April and think that the names Crawford, Quinn, Williams, Knapp, Alfaro, or any other prospect will be here in a few weeks to save the day for the 2016 team- those guys are all likely to be a little while yet. The goal is to get all of the young talents on the MLB team through a full, healthy, productive season, where we see improvement towards these players being pieces on a contending team.

On the days when it's too much to bare another game of a sub-.500 team on CSN, take a ride to Allentown, Reading, Lakewood, or Williamsport, and behold the talents of the top-ten system the Phillies have built over the course of the trades of the last year. Go watch Crawford, Quinn, Cozens, Brown, and Alfaro in Reading, or come watch Williams, Knapp, Stassi, and Joseph slug the ball in the Lehigh Valley. The development of Appel, Thompson, and Eflin in Lehigh Valley could be pivotal to how fast this Major League club contends again, and it will go on less than 90 minutes from Philadelphia. Names like Pinto and Kilome could end up as major discussion topics within this organization by the end of this Summer, as could the debate over which prospects emerge as the starting catcher and first baseman of the future by the end of the year. Unlike a year ago at this time, the Phillies no longer have a bottom feeding minor league system, but now are amongst baseball's leaders in top-100 prospects and potential premium talents. As I said, on the days that the big league club is too awful for your eyes, we now have a system worth watching and dreaming about.

Today is about the big league club though, and I will say something I would not have said a year ago- go ahead and dream. If we're talking about Dalier Hinojosa's 35th save in mid-September, or Maikel Franco's 35th homer, or Odubel Herrera's batting title chances, or whether or not Nola, Eickhoff, or Velasquez can post a sub-3.00 season ERA, my comment about 81 wins being a pipe dream could end up looking way off. Generally, things do not break that perfectly for a baseball team, and the 2016 Phillies should not be the exception. I am old enough to fondly remember how every positive prediction turned out right about the 1993 Phillies, and what it felt like as a ten year old to sit there on an October night and take in my first World Series game. It's not probable. It's possible in our wildest dreams though this year, and that's worth hoping for on Opening Day.

This is becoming a bit old for Philadelphia sports fans, but I'm starting out the 2016 season trusting the process that Andy MacPhail, Matt Klentak, and Pete Mackanin have put into place. I can see the direction, and I feel like some of the ground towards improvement has already been made up. We're going to see better starting pitching, several young stars develop in the majors, a better minor league system, and hopefully several in-season promotions. We are moving in the right direction with our Phillies. This Phillies team should be much more fun to follow than their 2015 version was.

April 01, 2016

The Grapefruit League is done. The Phillies played in Reading last night, and they will be at Citizens Bank Park tonight against the Orioles. Manager Pete Mackanin has dropped the hints about where he's leaning. I have a couple of changes to my final MLB roster projection. Here's what I see the team doing:

Starting Rotation- This is all but set. Jeremy Hellickson, Aaron Nola, Charlie Morton, Jerad Eickhoff, and Vince Velasquez are all coming north with the team. This group has a chance to be substantially better than last year's rotation. Two serviceable veterans and three very talented arms could team up to make this team a little more competitive than we expected.

Line-Up- I think we're going to see Cesar Hernandez lead off and play second, and Freddy Galvis bat second and play shortstop. I think we'll see Odubel Herrera play center and bat third. Maikel Franco will play third base and hit fourth. I believe we'll probably see Peter Bourjos get a lot of at-bats in the five or six hole and play right and left field. We'll probably see the first base platoon of Ryan Howard and Darin Ruf play first and bat fifth or sixth regularly. I believe we'll see a Cedric Hunter and Tyler Goeddel combo start out the season hitting seventh and playing the opposite corner outfield spot from Bourjos. I think we'll see the Carlos Ruiz and Cameron Rupp tandem hit eighth and catch games.

Bullpen- We've known for a bit that Dalier Hinojosa, David Hernandez, Jeanmar Gomez, and Brett Oberholtzer were coming north. That left three spots, and for me, that has become more clear than before. Ernesto Frieri seems destined for a spot in the bullpen, and I think he'll get one. Daniel Stumpf pretty much has to make it to stick with the organization as a Rule 5 guy. I think the last spot will go to James Russell over Andrew Bailey, if for no other reason than Mackanin's "tough love" words for Bailey, and his stated willingness to keep three lefties.

Bench- Most of this is tied up in the line-up. The Howard/Ruf platoon requires one to be on the bench. The Rupp and Ruiz duo behind the plate puts one on the bench each night. Goeddel sounds like he'll be on the bench more than Hunter to start out the season, but one of them has to be. Andres Blanco was a lock from the start of camp. That leaves one last spot, and I think that spot is going to Emmanuel Burriss by a nose over Wil Venable.

Non-25 man roster guys on the 40 man roster- Darnell Sweeney, Taylor Featherston, Roman Quinn, Jorge Alfaro, and the injured Cody Asche will all occupy 40 man roster spots, but not open up with the team. Aaron Altherr will open up on the 60-Day DL and not count against the roster. Relief pitchers Hector Neris, Edubray Ramos, Jimmy Cordero, Colton Murray, and Elvis Araujo all seem to be safely headed for the minors, while Luis Garcia could be a candidate to be DFA'ed if a spot is needed, though I doubt it. Michael Mariot has been injured, and might face either a 60-Day DL stint or DFA waiver status to clear a spot on the 40 man roster. Mario Hollands is almost certainly headed for the 60-Day DL as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. Starters Adam Morgan and Alec Asher seem headed for the minors safely, while David Buchanan certainly, and to a lesser extent Severino Gonzalez, are possible DFA candidates to open a spot. Matt Harrison will start the season on the 60-Day DL. With the additions of Frieri, Russell, Burriss, and Hunter to the 40 man roster, the team will have 41 players possibly occupying 40 man spots, unless they 60-Day DL someone else hurt in the system, or trade someone. They have at least one move we don't know about yet that is coming.

March 29, 2016

The Phillies have kept busy in the past few days. Gone to the minors are Adam Morgan, Luis Garcia, Elvis Araujo, David Lough, and Ryan Jackson. Out of the organization is Edward Mujica. What's the roster look like now?

March 20, 2016

I'm always excited for baseball season, and obviously i'm always pumped for my Phillies. This season though, I'm more pumped for the IronPigs, if for no other reason than the opportunity to see all the talent the Phillies have amassed coming through. Trades that sent Cole Hamels and Ken Giles, among others, to contenders in return for prospects, have changed the outlook for the future immensely.

Not only will the IronPigs have talent, they will have competition. There are a lot of players in the Phillies camp who will be trying to come down and have spots. Many positions are crowded, and the Phillies will have to make some tough choices in forming this roster.

The Rotation- Case in point, this is one crowded area for the Phillies to sort out. David Buchanan, Severino Gonzalez, and Alec Asher all saw MLB time last season. Jake Thompson, Mark Appel, and Zach Eflin all are highly regarded prospects that the team has picked up in recent trades, and all are either ready or close to it, for this level. In any normal situation, Ben Lively would be looked at here. Chris Leroux and Anthony Vasquez both started significant games for the Pigs last season. Reinier Roibal, Joely Rodriguez, and Tom Windle could even be considered if the Phillies wanted to.

Reality here though is that the Phillies need to balance pitchers they may use in the majors this season against prospects. You have to figure Adam Morgan into this discussion as well, if he is the odd man out for the fifth starter job in Philadelphia. My sense here is that Appel, Thompson, and Eflin are all locks to be here. If I had to guess beyond that, I would bet on Morgan obviously, and Buchanan winning the last two spots in this rotation. Gonzalez and Asher will be considered for the Reading rotation, or in Asher's case, the bullpen.

I expect the Reading rotation, for what it's worth, to include Lively, Nick Pivetta, and Ricardo Pinto to start the season. They may go with six spots there, so the possibility of Gonzalez and Asher starting there is definitely possible.

The Line-Up- There's so much to be excited about here. Andrew Knapp, Brock Stassi, Nick Williams, Roman Quinn, and maybe even J.P. Crawford will all start out here. That's a crowded squad to start out.

I expect we'll see an infield of Knapp, Stassi, Angelys Nina, Crawford, and Ryan Jackson to start the season. I suspect our outfield will be Williams, Quinn, and Cedric Hunter to start out.

It would seem unlikely that Garcia, Araujo, Neris, or Murray isn't here. It would be very surprising if Ramos, Cordero, or Windle is here, and not Reading. That leaves three spots in AAA, and four in AA to work with. Vasquez or Leroux is likely to make the AAA squad as a long man, pushing that number down to two. I suspect the Phillies will want to see a lefty make this bullpen besides Araujo, so watch for Russell, Roberts, and LaFramboise to lead one battle, with Bleich and Ibarra also being considered. On the other side, I expect Frieri to be given a chance to accept a spot, and if not, watch Medina.

Bench- Lock in Gabriel Lino, Taylor Featherston, J.P. Arencibia (who will DH a lot too), and Christian Marrero. That leaves one more spot. I could certainly see the Phillies putting Cam Perkins here and pushing Hunter to the bench, but I think it's more likely they look at either trying to keep Burriss here or K.C. Serna if Burriss doesn't come down.

Believe it or not, Spring Training is almost over. We're a week from Easter, and just about two weeks from baseball. We've reached the point in camp when the prospects are gone, opt-out dates are mattering, and there's only really a few jobs open. For the Phillies, this means it's time to come back to reality- while it was fun to watch new, younger players that are part of our future, now they are in minor league camp, and it's time to look at the tough season ahead.

Even coming off of a 99 loss season, even with so many new faces, most of the team looks done. There are more locks than not. Most of the roster is set, and there are really only a hand full of positions still up for grabs. Let's take a look at where things are:

Rotation- From the start, there were four absolute locks- Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff, Jeremy Hellickson, and Charlie Morton. There were some questions about Eickhoff's health early on, but those seem to be settled for now. That left only two things worth talking about here- the fifth starter and who gets Opening Day.

Opening Day appears to be a battle between Aaron Nola and Jeremy Hellickson. The fans seem to be behind Nola, but my guess is Hellickson gets the nod. Why? The biggest reason is the #2 starter will pitch the home opener, which I think the Phillies see as a bigger deal than Opening Day. The other reason is that I think the Phillies prefer to downplay expectations on Nola this season. This is largely an irrelevant battle though, as both will face a lot of top tier starters this season if they are the first two arms in the rotation, and the rotation moves around all season.

The fifth starter's spot is not irrelevant though. The battle between Vince Velasquez, Adam Morgan, and Brett Oberholtzer has been a fairly productive one this Spring, with all three throwing the ball pretty well. Oberholtzer is slated to throw on back-to-back days this week, seeming to indicate he's going to start out in the bullpen. That leaves Velasquez and Morgan to battle this one out. From the start, I've believed Velasquez was the preference of the Phillies. I don't think he's done anything to change that.

That would leave the following starting pitchers on the 40 man roster, but in the minors: Morgan (most likely), David Buchanan, Severino Gonzalez, and Alec Asher. Pitcher Matt Harrison will go on the 60 day DL, opening up one roster spot.

Line-Up- We knew a lot of the locks from the start. Odubel Herrera and Maikel Franco had locked down spots last year. Freddy Galvis and Cesar Hernandez were likely to win their full-time jobs. Carlos Ruiz and Cameron Rupp are going to share the catching duties. Despite the solid Spring by Brock Stassi, the Phillies were going to start the season with Ryan Howard and Darin Ruf sharing first base. That gives you a complete infield, plus a center fielder.

The corner outfield jobs were always up for grabs, but it got more murky when Aaron Altherr, a solid favorite to win a job, injured his wrist and had surgery that will keep him out until July at a minimum, and the season possibly. Peter Bourjos always appeared to be favored to win a spot, and that seems even more like a lock now. His initial top competitor for the third starting spot, Cody Asche, has been out all Spring with an oblique injury. I don't think the Phillies ever intended Tyler Goeddel to be an Opening Day starter, but that appears to be where things are headed for now. Darnell Sweeney is still in camp, and could get a look here as well, but is probably better suited as an utility man.

Bullpen- David Hernandez was always a lock, given his major league contract, so long as he was healthy. He is now healthy, and appears on schedule. Edward Mujica seems like he's destined to be added to the 40 and 25 man rosters next week for Opening Day too. Brett Oberholtzer seems like a lock to be a lefty and long man type out of the pen. I would put Jeanmar Gomez in the locks right now too.

Assuming the Phillies have the 40 man spots to add Andrew Bailey for Opening Day, I would think he's locked up a spot, but they may be short a spot due to the outfielding situation. Bailey's opt-out date is May 1st though, so I would expect he'll be up soon, if not Opening Day. Elvis Araujo and Luis Garcia spent most of last season on the team too, but neither is a lock right now for Opening Day. Mario Hollands hasn't pitched yet, and seems destined for the DL to start the season. Dalier Hinojosa has picked up where he left off last September, impressing in camp. Michael Mariot, Hector Neris, and Colton Murray are all still in camp, but don't seem to have great chances. Daniel Stumpf, a Rule 5 pick, is definitely still in the mix, but may need a strong finish.

For my money, I'd bet on Hinojosa and Stumpf to make this team. I'd also bet that the Phillies figure out a way to make room for Bailey to make this roster. That leaves Araujo, Garcia, Mariot, Neris, Murray, Edubray Ramos, and Jimmy Cordero all in the minor leagues, but on the 40 man roster to start the season.

The Bench- If you factor in that Rupp and Ruiz are sharing the catching duties, you already have your back-up catcher. The platoon at first between Howard and Ruf also fills a second spot. That leaves three spots on this roster. I would suspect that Andres Blanco is a lock for one of them. I'm also of the opinion that Darnell Sweeney's versatility makes him a lock right now. That leaves one more spot to fill.

That spot must be filled by someone who can play in the outfield. With Altherr and Asche headed for the DL, the Phillies have just three outfielders right now. This would appear to be a battle between Cedric Hunter and David Lough for that spot. Both have had very good Spring Trainings, and the job is temporary anyway, so it's hard to argue with either. Neither currently has a 40 man roster spot, a problem for a team who has only two open ones, and two other players they need to get on the roster (Mujica and Bailey). My guess though is that the Phillies won't go outside the organization looking for a fill-in, because these guys are playing fine, it's a temporary spot, and you would need a 40 man roster spot for whoever you bring in. Give the edge, barely, to Lough right now. Don't completely count out Emmanuel Burriss yet.

Heading to the minors with a 40 man spot are Roman Quinn, Taylor Featherston, and Jorge Alfaro. Headed to the 15 Day DL will be Cody Asche. Headed to the 60 Day DL, opening the second roster spot, will be Aaron Altherr.

Bottom Line- The Phillies roster is 80% set. The biggest issue facing them is needing a third 40 man spot to fit Mujica, Bailey, and Hunter/Lough/Burriss all on. This means that you should be watching the 40 man spots of Mariot, Garcia, Neris, Gonzalez, Buchanan, and Featherston in the coming days. I suspect the Phillies will DFA someone along the way to picking their final roster.

The other major thing to watch is opt-out dates on some of the non-roster invitees. Some, like J.P. Arencibia, don't have one. Some, like Mujica, do. This will start to matter as the Phillies start trying to build a AAA team. While it's hard to tell what a player will do after spending camp in the majors, I suspect a lot of these players may want to stick around the Phillies, because the roster is by no means a powerhouse. There could be future opportunity.

Spend the next week watching the Velasquez-Morgan battle, the crowded bullpen, and the Hunter/Lough fight. Those battles are still crowded going into the end of camp.

March 17, 2016

I'm not the President of the Phillies. I'm not the General Manager of the Phillies either. I'm not the Manager. I'm just a 17 game season ticket-holder of 26 years who attends 40 professional baseball games a year and gets the MLB package to watch even more. I'd like to think of myself as an educated "guesser" about what the real experts are thinking. A lot of times though, I do find myself disagreeing with them. So, rather than writing another piece about what I think they will do, which there will be plenty of time for later, I figured I'd weigh in on what I would do if I ran the team.

My 25 man roster would look something like this:

Rotation

Jeremy Hellickson- Yes, I would give him the Opening Day nod. I know, the fans want Nola to get it, but as much as I think Nola will be a fine Major Leaguer for many years to come, I do not believe he is that close to a #1 starter now, or that he will be later (I'll go on record saying he'll be a solid #2). I know, Hellickson isn't a #1 either, I get that. I also get that he's a veteran who won't be here next year, so I have little issue throwing him out there to take a lot of losses this year. In the grand scheme, because pitchers don't neatly match-up against other teams' #1 guys, this is a small issue. Since it's an issue at all though, I'll weigh in on it.

Charlie Morton- Yes, I am putting him way too high. Again though, i'm not really worried about what a frustrating season might do to him. He and Hellickson are here to eat innings and earn a few million bucks for it, and i'm fine with letting him do that. As a veteran, these two should be up to handling a long season.

Aaron Nola- So why drop a kid down to #3 who has done everything well so far as a pro? Well, for one, I want to defuse the fan expectations on this kid as much as possible. He had a nice debut last season, but many fans have already overhyped his ceiling. Let him pitch in the middle of the rotation and mostly face mediocre opposing pitchers, where one mistake a start doesn't send him to a 15 loss season. I'd like to see Nola get a chance to pitch with slightly less pressure, and have a chance to work on things. I'm totally fine if they decide to throw him #2, and let him start the home opener too. That will make some fans happy.

Jerad Eickhoff- In my opinion, the Phillies hit the jackpot with this kid. He has a killer breaking ball for an out-pitch, a solid fastball, and seemed to mix his stuff well. I don't know if I like him more or less than Nola yet, and want to see more from both this season, but I could almost write everything I wrote about Nola above for Eickhoff here. I'm excited for both, and hope their sophomore seasons in the bigs are just as good as the debut.

Vince Velasquez- It's pretty close between him, Adam Morgan, and Brett Oberholtzer, and there's a good argument to option him to AAA to start the season. He's never pitched there, he's another righty, he has options, and you could keep him stretched out. Even so, he's the most talented of the three options, and I like the idea of letting three young prospect arms go out and see if they can hit stride together. Morgan would start the season in AAA then, and probably get some use relatively soon.

Line-Up

Cesar Hernandez-2B- I know, there are plenty of fans who don't like him. There are plenty of holes in his game, but I do not see Bourjos as a lead-off man for a team winning more than 65 games, and I like Herrera in the two hole. Cesar will hit for a respectable average, steal bases, and hopefully walk more this season. If he does those things, and mixes in a few extra-base hits, you can overlook his mediocre defense.

Odubel Herrera-CF- I hope that in the long run, the Phillies look at him at second base (because I like Roman Quinn). With that said, Herrera is set for a big season for him, where he will look to prove last season's good numbers are real.

Maikel Franco-3B- I expect that we'll be talking about Maikel as the best player on this team this season. His range isn't great, but he makes some spectacular plays, and has a strong arm. He can hit for a solid average, and will hit for power. I'm looking for an OPS of over .800 and more than 25 homers from him this year.

Ryan Howard/Darin Ruf-1B- If this platoon is utilized correctly, they could make for one adequate offensive player who's defense leaves you a lot to be desired. I'm very tempted to put Brock Stassi into this spot with Ruf and buy-out Howard, but I think you let him go out and try to prove he can still play Major League Baseball. I like how Ruf looks this Spring, so far. If Howard struggles early, you discuss a buyout to clear room for Stassi to get a look.

Carlos Ruiz/Cameron Rupp-C- I will go on the record and say that I would have sought to trade at least one of these two in the off-season. With that said, they are here, and this is where the Phillies line-up begins to fall apart. They are both a bit offensively challenged, but provide maybe just enough power to keep teams honest with our four hole guys. Maybe.

Peter Bourjos-LF- Bourjos will play an excellent outfield, but he won't ever be the hitter the Angels hoped he would be when he came up. With that said, I would absolutely stick him here, if for no other reason than to protect the guys who will hit behind him.

Freddy Galvis-SS- Freddy hit better than I expected last year. With that said, don't confuse him for a great hitter. He'll play solid defense, we hope, and hopefully match last season offensively. The real question to be answered this year is whether you like him or Cesar Hernandez better at second base once J.P. Crawford arrives in Philadelphia. For that reason, it's a big season for both.

Tyler Goeddel/Darnell Sweeney-RF- You might be thinking I've lost my mind putting these two in a platoon, but I haven't. Goeddel has had a good Spring, but has exactly zero MLB time coming into this season. Sweeney probably isn't an every day player, but can be valuable to this team moving forward. Getting them both some at-bats while protecting them from getting overwhelmed is a better use of playing time than giving the at-bats away to a veteran you pick up off of waivers, in my humble opinion.

Bench

Rupp/Ruiz- You have to carry two catchers. Since I expect them to split time, that puts one on the bench each night.

Howard/Ruf- Once again, when you have a platoon, one guy is always on the bench.

Goeddel/Sweeney- The good news with Sweeney is that on nights he's not starting, he's a versatile bench presence.

Andres Blanco- Blanco will be the rock of this bench. He plays a bunch of positions, he can pinch-hit, and he's a good veteran presence with the younger guys on this team.

Brock Stassi- Since it seems that Cody Asche is going to start the season on the DL, you have a bit of a first base log jam to start in the minors, he's not that young, you have 40 man space to work with, and it's a very temporary spot, I would add the 2015 Eastern League MVP to the roster for the first couple of weeks and see how he does. This is a make-or-break season for him after breaking out last season anyway, so I would be aggressive and challenge him with upper level assignments. He can play first, or go to a corner outfield in a pinch. I'd challenge him. The only argument against this is roster space.

Bullpen

David Hernandez- The righty is a candidate to close and has a guaranteed contract. He's pitched late innings for teams before, and is a lock to make the team if he gets his health together.

Jeanmar Gomez- He had a very nice season last year, and looks like a lock to make this year's bullpen. Look for him to see an increased role.

Edward Mujica- This former All-Star closer is throwing well this Spring, and is well worth a 40 man spot and bullpen slot to start the season. Consider him a candidate to close too.

Brett Oberholtzer- He's out of options and throwing the ball well. While I'm not putting him in the fifth starter spot, he's versatile enough to be a lefty reliever and long man out of the pen. He can give you spot starts if they stretch him out enough, and might come in handy with injuries. He's definitely worth keeping in the bullpen.

Daniel Stumpf- The Rule 5 pick has thrown well overall, despite a hiccup on Monday. I'd like to see them keep him and try to work on him during the year.

Dalier Hinojosa- For me, it comes down to him, Elvis Araujo, and Luis Garcia. Right now, I like Hinojosa, who impressed last September. I'd at least like to see if he can get off to a rolling start and possibly pitch into a late inning role.

Andrew Bailey- He's the final closer candidate and absolutely someone I'd like to see the Phillies keep. He's throwing well and should make the team, but as a non-roster invitee, the Phillies will need to make sure they have enough 40 man spots to do it.

DL

60-Day- Matt Harrison, Aaron Altherr

15-Day- Cody Asche, Mario Hollands

The Phillies would probably need one more 40 man roster spot (presuming no more major injuries) in order to keep Mujica, Bailey, and Stassi. I do not believe the Phillies will try to clear the spot for Stassi, frankly. I'm not even sure they will for Bailey either, since his opt-out isn't until May 1st. They will probably go pick up a veteran outfielder and keep another righty reliever, if I had to guess right now. Even if they do keep Bailey on the roster, they will clear out another pitcher from the roster in order to go get a veteran outfielder. No matter though- this wasn't what is likely to happen, it's just my feeling of what should.